Messier 51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, is one of the most striking and well-known galaxies in the night sky. What makes it special is the interaction with nearby galaxy NGC 5195, distorting its otherwise symmetric spiral pattern. This gravitational pull has triggered waves of star formation in the Whirlpool's arms, lighting them up with clusters of hot, young, blue stars. Here in a long >60h exposure.

Messier 12 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is located approximately 15,700 light-years away from Earth and about 75 light-years in diameter. With an estimated age of around 12 billion years, M12 is among the older objects in our galaxy.

Messier 85 is a lenticular galaxy (S0) located in the Virgo Cluster, approximately 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. Discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and later cataloged by Charles Messier, M85 is one of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster.

Messier 58 is one of the brightest galaxies in the constellation Virgo. Located roughly 62 million light-years from Earth, M58 is the most distant Messier object. The core contains high rates of star formation, known as starburst activity. It also houses a supermassive black hole around 70 million times the mass of our Sun.

Messier 46 is a rich open star cluster located in the constellation Puppis, approximately 5,500 light-years from Earth. Inside M46 is a planetary nebula, NGC 2438, which is located about halfway between Earth and M46. Also found an asteroid.

Arp 25 and Arp 114 are a spiral and an elliptical galaxy respectively in the constellation Cepheus, at a distance of about 120 million lightyears away from Earth. Their gravitational interaction causes distortions in their morphology.

Messier 89 is an elliptical galaxy located in the Virgo Cluster, within the constellation Virgo. M89 is approximately 50 to 55 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of about 9.8 to 10.73. The galaxy contains around 100 billion stars and over 2,000 globular clusters.

Messier 87 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is notable for its prominent jet of energetic plasma that originates from its core and extends at least 5,000 light-years. M87 is approximately 53.5 million light-years away from Earth.

Sh2-313, also known as Abell 35 or the Flaming Crown Nebula, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Hydra. The distance to Sh2-313 is estimated to be between 1,200 to 1,500 light-years from Earth.

Messier 66 is a prominent spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo, approximately 36 million light-years from Earth. It is the brightest member of the Leo Triplet, a small group of interacting galaxies that also includes Messier 65 and NGC 3628.

Messier 66 is a prominent spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo, approximately 36 million light-years from Earth. It is the brightest member of the Leo Triplet, a small group of interacting galaxies that also includes Messier 65 and NGC 3628.

Arp 271 is a pair of interacting spiral galaxies, located approximately 130 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. These galaxies are gradually being pulled together by gravity, their spiral arms stretching and distorting as they pass near each other.

Messier 40, also known as Winnecke 4, is a double star system located in the constellation Ursa Major. Charles Messier mistakenly believed it to be a nebula. The two stars are separated by about 50 arcseconds and are approximately 500 light-years away from Earth.

Sh2-188, also known as Shrimp nebula, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies approximately 850 light-years away from Earth and spans a region of about 13 light-years across.

Sharpless 2-261, also known as Lower's Nebula, is a faint emission nebula located in the constellation Orion. Sh2-261 is an ionised hydrogen (HII) region energised by the ultraviolet radiation of nearby hot stars. This nebula lies roughly 3,300 light-years from Earth and spans about 50 light-years in diameter.

Caldwell 39 (NGC2392) is a bipolar double-shell planetary nebula (PN) in the constellation Gemini. The Sun-like central red star is surrounded by gas that it has emitted from its outer layers. The visible inner filaments are ejected by a strong wind of particles from the central star.

The Virgo cluster is a large area in the sky, packed with galaxies. The famous Markarian Chain may be the best known part of it, but there are many more pretty well visible galaxies around in the area. Explore this very wide-field recording of this exciting part of the night-sky.

On 29 March 2025, a partial solar eclipse was visible from the West of Europe and the East of North America. From Groningen, a maximum coverage of about 25% was reached around mid-day. While clouds prevented a continuous experience, some nice images and even a full timelapse of the event was created.

Solar imaging has been in the works for a long time now. But I’m now far enough with my setup that I can actually make decent solar images. See here the first result with both a full disk image and a close-up of a prominence. Both images are also processed as timelapse video. A lot of room for improvement, but off to a good start.

Messier 53 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is one of the most distant globular clusters associated with the Milky Way, lying approximately 58,000 light-years from Earth. M53 is often observed alongside its neighbouring globular cluster, NGC 5053, which lies nearby in the sky.